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Anatomy of a Hip Hop Hit in 2013

Written by Antoine King

Hip hop has changed so much over the years its amazing. When I sit down and analyze some of the hip hop hits of today, here is what I came up with. Artists like Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Drake have mastered the english language and use it at their disposal. Here is a break down of what it takes to compete with the Drakes and Lil Waynes of hip hop.

1) Beat- The beat has to be amazing. Jahlil beats, DJ Premier and others have crafted some of hip hops classic music. Test your beats make sure they are hot before you record the song.

2) Hook- Mixtape songs don't have to have a hook, but commercial radio singles must be hook driven and catchy. Test your hook and make sure it works.

3) Lyrics- Your flow on the song should match the beat. Write your songs specifically to the track. This will avoid it sounding like your stumbling over your words. Make sure your flow has a strong creative rhythm.

4) Ad Lib- Ok ad libs made famous by Drake, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross. These can be sounds or words that you repeat so the listener knows that its you on the track.

5) Catch Phrase- It seems that songs these days may have a few catch phrases like YOLO or something like that yelled in the background somewhere.

6) Metaphors- Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross have mastered the metaphor and you can hear them comparing heads to mellons and grapes to blood. Make sure your hit has some great metaphors.

7) Similes- Again the top artists use like and as to compare some of the most creative things in hip hop. Using similes in a creative way is almost mandatory in hip hop today.

8) Target Audience- Understanding what your fans like is key to making a hit. Wiz Khalifa talks about weed in every song and his fans bring him weed to the shows. Rick Ross fans love to hear him talk about money. Drake fans love his love songs and music for the ladies. Lil Wayne fans love his outrageous lines. Understand what your audience likes and give them a lot of it in a creative way.

If you follow these guidelines I'm sure you can make the next big hip hop hit.